NORFOLK, Va. -It took the North Carolina A&T men's
basketball team two months before they could win two straight. After that
point, the Aggies won two straight five times, but could never get on a three-game
winning streak. Each time, agony and frustration would sweep across the face of
first-year A&T head coach Cy Alexander.

Well coach, how about four straight? That's the number of consecutive
games the Aggies won to claim the 2013 MEAC Basketball Tournament Championship
on Saturday. Win No. 4 came at the expense of Morgan State in a 57-54 victory
at The Norfolk Scope Arena. Tournament MVP Adrian Powell had 14 points and two
rebounds and hit two key free throws in the clutch. All-tournament performer
Lamont Middleton added 13. Conference defensive player of the year Austin
Witter finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, including a big
swat in the final two minutes of the contest.

"After we would get those two wins, we would find a way to
lose," said Alexander. "We would then have to have these coming to Jesus
meetings. The beauty of it all is they hung in there with me, and I hung in
there with them. We never stopped believing in each other and that's why they
can now call themselves champions."

A&T will now await its destination for next week. Many
experts believe the Aggies will play in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday in one of the
play-in games. To Alexander and the Aggie family, all of that will sort itself
out over time. The only thing that is in important now, is that North Carolina
A&T basketball is back at the top of the MEAC after an 18-year drought
without a championship. The Aggies are 19-16, the most wins they have had since 1987-88 season, when they went 26-3 and won the MEAC title.

The MEAC championship marks Alexander's sixth as a head
coach and his first with A&T. A&T now has 16 titles, more than any
other school in the MEAC. Next week will mark the Aggies' 10th
appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the first since 1995.

"(Associate head coach Jay Joyner) always talk to us about
making history," said Middleton. "One of the first conversations he had with us
was about making history. That really stayed with us throughout the season."

There was no one more fitting to get the history started
than Witter, who had an historic season blocking shots for A&T. Morgan
State's Anthony Hubbard went down the lane with ease and put up what appeared
to be a layup that would tie the game at 53 with two minutes to play. But
Witter, the Aggies all-time single-season blocked shots leader, spotted him in
time, turned his body, timed his jump and tossed Hubbard's shot into the hands
of Aggies guard Jeremy Underwood.

Underwood turned the block into a transition basket as he
found freshman Bruce Beckford underneath the basket for a layup and a 55-51
lead with 1:45 to play. What made the block even bigger is that Blake Bozeman
answered with a 3-pointer 15 seconds later. When Powell missed his jumper, it
gave the Bears a chance to take the lead. But Hubbard missed another layup and
the ball ended up in the hands of Powell.

At times this season, Powell has struggled from the free
throw line. But Powell has been superb in four games in Norfolk.

"All we had to do to win the game was hit free throws," said
Alexander, won his MEAC-leading 31st MEAC Tournament game on
Saturday. "A young man I have all the confidence in the world in got fouled.
That young man is sitting to my right. He's Adrian Powell. He stepped up and
knocked them down like I knew he would."

Not only did Powell
hit the two free throws to put A&T ahead 57-54 with 23.2 seconds left. But
he also blocked first-team All-MEAC selection DeWayne Jackson's 3-point attempt
to tie the game in the final seconds.

"I knew they were going to Jackson," said Powell. "I saw him
coming off of a curl, and I just timed it right and blocked his shot."

"There were times this year when no one believed in us but
us," said Powell. "Coach just kept telling us to stay together and keep believing
in one another. We knew eventually it would work out for us if we kept working
hard."

Now the Aggies must get to work on trying to win five
straight. The Aggies will celebrate on Sunday with a Selection Show Party at
the Student Union at 5:30 p.m. But once they get their travel plans, it's back
to practice on Monday in anticipation of playing on Tuesday, Thursday or
Friday.

"If you play college basketball, there is nothing like
playing in the NCAA Tournament - win, lose or draw," said Alexander, who will
be making his sixth appearance in the tourney.